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Wichita Falls JCPenney survives the cut

The Wichita Falls JCPenney store, the first one to open in Texas back in March 1917, has survived the chopping block as the retail chain announced early Friday morning which of the 138 it will close over the next few months.

No other Texas stores in the Wichita Falls area were on the list, but Altus, Oklahoma, was on the list of stores targeted for closure. A full list of the closings can be found on the J. C. Penney Company Investor Relations website here.

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The JCPenney store in Sikes Senter will remain open although the national chain plans to close 138 of its department stores, the company announced Friday.(Photo: Torin Halsey/Times Record News)

"As part of a continuing effort to advance sustainable growth and long-term profitability, J. C. Penney Company, Inc. will be closing 138 stores, one supply chain facility in Lakeland, Florida, and relocating one supply chain facility in Buena Park, California, to align the Company’s physical store footprint and omnichannel network. Approximately 5,000 positions nationwide will be impacted by the store closures, most of which will occur in June," the company said in a news release.

The Wichita Falls store went through a few modifications in recent years when it incorporated cosmetic retailer Sephora into the local store, which has anchored the east end of Sikes Senter since the mid-1970s. JCPenney also re-entered the retail appliance business in July when it carved out a section on the south end of the store just for washers, dryers, ranges, refrigerators and more.

J. C. Penney Company made the decision in 2015 to begin selling appliances again in 22 stores throughout the country, and when that proved to be a profitable move, they expanded that initiative to about 500 stores.

The company announced on Monday that they would also get into another line of business that would continue to target its primary demographic - women - with JCPenney Home Services, an offering that "will provide turn-key services for heating and cooling systems, bathroom remodeling, quick ship and installed blinds, whole home water solutions and awnings, as well as easy-to-install smart home devices."

Marvin Ellison, chairman and CEO of JCPenney, said, "With the resurgence of the housing market, consumers are spending more than $300 billion annually to upgrade their homes since nearly two-thirds of the nation's homes are over 30 years old.* There is a tremendous opportunity to capture additional revenue and minimize our dependence on apparel by catering our services to female homeowners who represent over 70 percent of our loyal customer base, and make the primary decisions regarding any home renovations."

A display-only format of JCPenney Home Services will be located in about 100 stores during the test run of the new program.